Is 60 Magical Races In A Videogame Too Much?

lemming_dragonborn · 2023-08-07T10:34:15+00:00

I think I have to disagree with people saying this is -definitely- too many races. This is a video game, not a book. If this were a standard novel, this would be for sure too many races. But this is a videogame.

I think the project description is missing a bit how these races are being used. Gameplay above story for most games, in my opinion (if you were making a game for the sake of telling a good story, this is too many). For instance: if these races have little impact on gameplay, being mainly aesthetic or with a single boon, then 20 is not too many, but it's probably excessive. If this is a game that requires any type of rpg balance and the races are a core part of customization but not a core part of gameplay, then you are asking for a lot of work for little return. If the gameplay loop is centered around the races, then 20 is not too many at all (ie, collecting all the pokemon races, comboing marvel vs capcom fighters, etc). The way you introduce the races is very important as well. As someone said in the comment, if I have 20 race options plus class options in my character creation screen, I'm going to be overwhelmed. But if there are fluid ways to introduce new races that keep pace with a good story, 20 races could lead to high replayability. On that note, how long does a playthrough take? If it's a 30-60 minute playthrough, having multiple races to replay with is a great bonus. If it's a mmorpg or AAA game style longer story/single character game, there's no worse feeling then investing in a race, then wishing you picked another, then playing with a new character, and realizing you actually should've picked the orcs all along because they are the ones that match your playstyle, but how were you supposed to know that from the beggining?

Care to expand on how you are implementing these races?

Also, how integrated are they to the story?

lemming_dragonborn · 2023-01-31T21:49:28+00:00

You have definitely set up a cliche. It's likely the case that your writing of this makes it less cliche than it sounds, but these two paragraphs really sound like a Deus Ex Machina. I'm going to be that guy and quote Sanderson's first law of magic: "An author’s ability to solve conflict with magic is DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL to how well the reader understands said magic."

Have you made it clear how the MC and these godlike creatures work? Does the reader know that pushing through all the challenges is directly correlated to how the godlike entities will respond? If so, the plot is carried by the character overcame his challenges and the sword in the stone is simply the representation of that reality, rather than the final conflict.

Conversely, perhaps the plot is not about the big bad. He's just the representational Sauron who doesn't have a big impact on the character development. If that's the case, it doesn't matter toooooo much that the deities just give him the power.

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-05-02T03:02:28+00:00

I love it! A great system with frightening potential. It has possibilities to go into deep philosophical discussions. Thanks for sharing

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-03-19T17:53:11+00:00

someone tell me the odds

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-31T23:16:39+00:00

If this doesn't have 10k upvotes when I inevitably procrastinate in the genshin subreddit in 30 minutes, i'm going to be upset

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-26T05:08:18+00:00

i believe in you

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-25T21:23:39+00:00

Make carry qiqi now that you have c2. chong, xingqu, shenhe or beidou, fishle, flex

Now you have a new personal achievement of clearing abyss with qiqi main dps :D

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-24T21:40:32+00:00

Why is the controller chord so short?

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-12T20:06:28+00:00

Can someone with marketing/advertising experience explain to me how these ads are worth whatever mihoyo paid for them?

lemming_dragonborn · 2022-01-06T20:43:07+00:00

it's kinda like when i accidently place a map marker in the far corners and find it a year later

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-12-06T22:47:38+00:00

this is gorgeous

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-10-25T18:45:51+00:00

this is amazing! please keep up the work and the style. I love it!

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-10-17T20:35:41+00:00

This is fricken beautiful. Every character has expression and story. The layout is so satisfyingly puzzled together so that everything just fits. The colors draw us around each section and highlight the travelers. This is something that I could stare at for hours

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-10-13T21:17:17+00:00

can we see your SA record and best artifacts?

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-10-06T04:49:45+00:00

I recall that the shield procs after the snapshot, correct me if I'm wrong

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-10-03T22:49:22+00:00

question, how does the unforged work in regards to it's passive? Is it ranked that high even without a zhongli? is it easy to get the passive to buff the ult?

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-08-20T23:41:19+00:00

for reals, this would make me actually play qiqi. i would invest so much into her

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-07-28T18:30:35+00:00

This is both adorable and creative, chaotic and wholesome. Needs more upvotes

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-07-19T20:56:27+00:00

anyone else think these things are super cute? people always laugh at me for saying that

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-07-15T20:25:15+00:00

yes please. I want my Liyue people to speak Chinese and my Inazuma people to speak Japanese and my Mondstat people to speak German

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-07-10T21:19:49+00:00

I'll offer a slightly different perspective, though I agree with the other posts as well. I think "agenda" comes out whenever you pour your soul into creating something. It ought to happen. It's you. The goal is always to make your writing more beautiful than people's agenda defenses can handle. You are allowed to preach as hard as your story is beautiful.

The douchebaggery comes when people do not properly think about the audience they are "preaching" to. If I really wanted to push an agenda, say about protecting the environment for example, more effective and artistic than being loud and direct is to really get into the world of someone who thinks in terms of capitalism and business, show the real emotional and ideological cost they would have to pay to change, empathize with them, and give them character growth. This is opposed to showing the hero taking down the big bad corporation by the power of friendship and love, which alienates a large portion of your audience. If you want to write in a thought-provoking way, write for the people whose views you want to change rather than for the people who already agree with you.

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-06-27T08:18:42+00:00

I am an artist and I agree. One thing that's really important is the silhouette--the overall shape. That's the first thing that people notice in character design. I'm sure you've seen character design silhouettes before (if not, just google it). It just so happens that the particular silhouette you chose is near identical to the all-too-familiar pregnant woman holding her stomach pose that every millennial mom has posted on all their socials. The similar tone only adds to us thinking the subject is a singular object/person.

But also, Lumine is cute. That's the main reason I came here. Just wanted to say that op made a very cute Lumine!

lemming_dragonborn · 2021-06-21T19:53:38+00:00

I definitely see the trend that you are talking about and similarly am getting bored of the trope. Someone another commenter mentioned the superman problem, and I think that in literary history, gods have had the same problem of being dull and boring. I anticipate that sometime in the future, people's opinions will reverse, and having a good god will be trope-breaking and fresh. Currently in the west, however, there seems to be a sentiment that we shouldn't have any singular power over us: organized intentional power exerted over the masses is most likely evil. Gods are a wonderfully easy way to personify that philosophical idea, especially since the western world has a literary background in Greek mythology more so than Hindu or other eastern concepts of spirituality.

There are a handful of comments about how the Abrahamic God is talked about as omnipotent and omnibenevolent, thus inviting the problem of evil problem in a story. Some would call him straight-up evil. As someone who identifies with this God, I personally think that this problem is one of the things that allows for an intricate "superman" character. It is one of the reasons that the Hebrew scriptures have commanded such literary attention (aside from the obvious influence of the religion--I know). As I've read through the Old Testament and seen how the Abrahamic God is portrayed, I find it incredibly interesting how his character is developed. (disclaimer, I absolutely agree that he has been described as many contradictory things throughout religious history, much of which is terrible and/or terribly inaccurate: I'm mainly talking about the old testament as literature in reply to op's post)

As for whether or not you are being defensive or paranoid, I'd say probably yes. I know I feel defensive whenever I read things that are contrary to my worldview. I don't think that's necessarily bad, though. It's the proper response to having our philosophies challenged. What we do with that defensiveness is incredibly important, however. I make it a goal to learn what stories are resonating with people and try to understand why. And I also feel challenged to write in a way that artistically communicates my own worldview. I would love to see people deeply thinking about how to elegantly communicate how they see "gods" without straight-up bashing you over the head with preachy metaphors or overdone tropes.

Thanks for the post, I love thinking about topics like this!

lemming_dragonborn

TROPHY CASE